Navy sends equipment to help with Gulf of Mexico oil spill

The Navy sent equipment to help with cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the Pentagon said Thursday it stands ready to expand its response to the disaster.

Susan Poag / The Times-PicayuneSupplies to help combat the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are being transferred from the dock at Bud's Boat Launch in Venice, Louisiana, to crew boats and then taken to different locations Thursday.Navy spokesman Lt. Myers Vasquez said Thursday that 66,000 feet of inflatable boom and seven skimming systems were on their way to the Navy base in Gulfport, Miss. The help is being provided under an existing pollution cleanup agreement between the Navy and Coast Guard.

The Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida is in use as a staging area for more booms, recovery barges, tractor trailers, pumps and other related equipment used by Coast Guard contractors, Vasquez said.

He was unaware of any military personnel who might be sent to help with the cleanup.

The White House has asked the Defense Department to discuss possible additional requests. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the military is assessing how it might help and what resources could be deployed. He did not say how long that might take.

"There is a full-blown effort within this department to try to find the kinds of things that could be helpful," Morrell said.

He said the federal response is far wider than the Pentagon and should involve a close partnership with the energy industry. For example, he said, industrial research on submersible vehicles that can operate at great depth outpaces the military's.

Morrell said the focus of military efforts now is on helping to contain the spill at sea, but that the Pentagon would be ready to offer other kinds of help should the spill reach shore. He would not speculate on what that additional assistance might include, but one possibility would be an influx of U.S. troops to help with shoreline cleanup.